Observation of sodium sulfite solid added to a little alkaline potassium permanganate?
1 Answer
Well what did you see? The colour would dissipate certainly, but was there a brown precipitate? Did it go green..?
Explanation:
In acidic medium sulfite would be oxidized to sulfate, and permanganate reduced to
And of course permanganate reduced to
But this is in an ACID medium. In a basic medium, which was specified by the question, more likely the reduction product would be manganate ion,
For manganate ion....
...or MORE LIKELY.....
I am inclined to think that
The which is balanced with respect to mass and charge... Whew.
See here for another example of this process...